Global’s H1N1 Update

*Cases reported by The World Health Organization (WHO) are as of June 6, 2010

International News

Indian H1N1 outbreak claims 16 lives in one month

With onset of monsoon season in Southeast Asia, influenza is considered a common monsoon-related malady. In southwest India, the state of Kerala is suffering from a large resurgence in H1N1 infections. Of the 16 deaths due to H1N1 the agrarian state has reported since May 15th, 9 were pregnant women. India’s National Centre for Disease Control has sent its Joint Director with an epidemiologist and a virologist as a three-doctor swift response team to the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, to investigate and combat the outbreak. In addition, the Indian parliament has approved shipments to Kerala of 600 000 Oseltamivir tablets, 20 000 bottles of pediatric syrup and 31 000 doses of vaccine. Monsoon season is expected to last another two to three months. Infocera

Vietnam wants to lower its pandemic alert level

Not content to wait for the World Health Organization’s review in July, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan has suggested lowering his country’s H1N1 alert level. According to Huan, his ministry had “heard” that senior WHO officials had been lobbied by pharmaceutical companies to influence the official pandemic declaration. “This is a big issue,” he said. The Vietnam Health Ministry spent approximately $52.5 million on pandemic prevention measures last year. Thanh Nien News

New Zealand vaccinates record numbers of citizens

The New Zealand government says over a million of its citizens were vaccinated against the flu this year; the highest number of people ever to respond to its public immunization program. New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall congratulated health officials, doctors and nurses on their “great job” and urged those who qualify for free vaccinations “to take up this offer while vaccine stocks last”. New Zealand’s last census estimates the country’s population at 4.3 million. TV3 News